India

09/06/2016

Social media has become part of the norm in the United States. Over the past few years, it seems that everyone has created a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, or an Instagram account to publicize their lives. However, there are other countries that are not too far behind in the Social Media game, with India being one of those countries in particular.

According to an article from techinasia.com, 65% of India is still without internet access, but India still has 462 million internet users. In addition, there are 153 million social media accounts from those who have internet access. In the US that may not seem like a large number of users, but for a country that is that far behind in internet use it is a great start. This article projects that the number of users in India will most definitely go up in the coming years as more and more people are able to use the internet.

The growth of social media is important not only in India, but throughout the world. The reason that social media is a great use of the internet is because it can connect all types of people from around the world. If the people of India are able to get access to the internet and social media, then they will have a new means to communicate with other countries around the world.

According to a June 2015 article from thehindu.com, the number of social media users went from 118 million to 143 million in a matter of two months, which was a 35 percent increase. Since then, there has been 10 million more accounts created, which shows the continuing growth of social media in India.

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03/24/2015

India's Supreme Court has scrapped away their Section66A law stating that any offensive comments online would lead to arrests made. The fact that this was even a law at one point shows how censored the Indian government can be with their rules against the media and freedom of speech and press. In the Hindustan Times they reported,

“We hold the section unconstitutional on the grounds that it takes within its sweep protected speech that is innocent in nature. It is liable to have a chilling effect on free speech and, therefore, has to be struck down,” the court said."

The law was said to hold the power to send someone to jail for up to three years for something as simple as a social media message or email that would be considered annoying or inappropriate. According to BBC News,

"The law was first challenged by a law student after two young women were arrested in November 2012 in Mumbai for comments on Facebook following the death of politician Bal Thackeray.

Shaheen Dhada was held for criticising Mumbai's shutdown after Thackeray's death. Renu Srinivasan, who "liked" the comment, was also arrested. The two were later released on bail."

Since than the law had caused several other arrested through out the years. It was a ray of victory for India on Tuesday, March 24th, when the Indian government trashed the Section66A law in the name of freedom of speech for the people. Hope was restored for meaning behind the word freedom in India.

03/20/2015

In 2012, a 23 year old female student in Delhi along with a male companion were victims of a vicious assault. The young woman had been brutally gang raped on a public bus for several hours before being left to fight for her life in a hospital. In the end her injuries were so bad that she died from them. Wishing to shed light on the crime, director Leslee Udwin interviewed one of the rapists in prison and made a documentary about it. The documentary titled "India's Daughter" has been banned from release in India.

Every country has problems with different forms of censorship, but one must wonder with India being the world's largest democracy, why is free speech being stifled? The home minister Rajnath Singh conveyed a feeling of shame brought to his country by the words of the rapist, Mukesh Singh. He and many others believe that the film glorifies the criminal and gives him a platform to share his sick and perverted views on women's place in Indian society. As noble of a gesture as this might be, banning the film undermines a much larger problem in Indian culture; despite being such an advanced nation, India is another in a long list of countries that suffers from misogynistic societal norms.

These norms include but are not limited to the popular South Asian practice of "Eve Teasing". Eve Teasing is in its simplest form, sanctioned sexual harassment. Women in South Asiancountries experience constant verbal abuse, groping, pinching, pushing, and poking from men who are just having "fun" in one of the most juvenile ways they can. There's a slew of laws and practices that value men over women in this culture, and perhaps that is the reason why showing this movie has been banned; it might not be that the country will be ashamed that five Indian men committed such an atrocity, but rather that the views expressed by these rapists coincide with views expressed by many people who have been raised in the same culture. The director (right) of the documentary has said that her work can be used as a "powerful tool for change".

The documentary has been unofficially screened in the slum homes of the rapists, and will hopefully be shown to more upper class Indian residents to enlighten them not only to the mindset of the men who committed the crime, but also to the underlying problem that as long as societies throughout the world, not just in India, continue to devalue women, these atrocities will continue to happen.

05/16/2013

In India, Mumbai police set up the first social media lab in the country. The main idea behind setting up this lab by Mumbai police is so that they can " Through [their] social media lab, [they] will come to know the pulse of the people as to what they are thinking, writing and what's happening in the city, country and around the world. By reading the mindset of what people are writing on various modes of communication, we will try to provide better and improved safety and security to the Mumbai citizens," This sounds all fine and dandy, but critics of this have said that they believe the lab will be used to impose more censorship in the country.

Censorship became a problem when, "Last year, [where] controversy surrounding social networking sites surfaced when two teenaged girls were arrested in the state’s Thane town for allegedly making offensive comments about then deceased chief of the Hindu radical Shiv Sena party, Bal Thackeray. Their arrests spurted a furious debate on the role of censorship and freedom of expression in the country." So are the police setting up to cause more censorship in their country or are they trying to understand how social media works and are attemping to protect their citizens from certian dangers of the internet?

It's been stated by, "Commissioner of Police Satyapal Singh said its purpose was not to invoke censorship on discussions of various subjects, but only to analyse them." We can only hope that this is what they plan on using it for. It is too early to tell if this social media lab will be good for the police in protecting their citizens or that it will cause more censorship in India; creating issues concerning their citizen's freedom of speech/expression.

Those on the internet know that at one point you come cross a pop up ad saying you win a million dollars; you know that this is some kind of hoax; if you click on the ad you will get a virus on your computer or that someone is trying to steal your social security number. We also have on FaceBook come across a fake celebrity account claiming to be whatever celebrity they are when in reality it is some 15 year old fan running the account. This has become a recent problem in India as many celebrities and MPs (members of Parliament) are complaining about this.

So the question is what is freedom of expression? Is it teens impersonating their favorite celebrity on FaceBook? Or are these celebrities allowed to claim defamation of their personality and image; that is it being ruined by these fake FaceBook accounts? Well "communications minister Kapil Sibal's response that policing the internet was a work in progress led to calls for tougher action against social media."

03/19/2013

The Times of India is reporting that in December of 2012, there was approximately 62 million users from India using Twitter, it is estimated that by June 2013 that number will rise too 66 million. These studies were done by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and the Indian Market Research Bureau. The Hindu reports that 97% of all social media users in India use Facebook. They say that the "social media revolution is going to keep getting bigger." This study was also done by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and the Indian Market Research Bureau.

Due too its growth in users over the past year, the Indian film industry is now using Twitter to help promote films and make announcements. Most recently, Sandalwood, also sometimes known as the Cimema of Karnataka has took to Twitter to announce its new film. The Times of India is reporting that the Kannada film company has made a Twitter handle for its new movie coming out. The film is also the comeback film for Bollywood actress Radhika. The Sandalwood film industry, produces around 100 films a year in India. Some of the feature films are even released in the U.S, UK, and even Germany.

She also said "I am what I am because of my hard work and my fans. And I think social media is the best and easiest way to keep in touch and follow up with my fans. I want to acknowledge their love and support through these media. Thank God we are in the internet age and its so convenient. Everything is just a click away. I am hoping to give it a shot and keep up with everyone.

I agree with what she says, because we are living in a digital age right now. People around the world can connect with each other with a simple click of a mouse. The internet has made everything more accessible. You can watch all these foreign movies on your computer now. Not just Bollywood actresses and actors, but all actors and actress around the world are using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, to connect with there fans whether its posting pictures of movies coming soon or announcing a release date, social media is taking over the way we communicate with our favorite movie stars.

03/05/2013

The recent gang
rape and death of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi has sparked a search for
technological developments that can be used by women to alert authorities of a
threat to their safety, specifically a mobile application. This news comes from
India Real Time.

A trade group
that represents Indian technology companies called Nasscom, is
having a contest to develop an application to focus on areas such as safety for
women.

This came just a
day after the government appointed a panel to recommended the development of a downloadable mobile phone application that can help women in trouble. The app
would have a function that would send a distress signal and the location of the
phone to the police.

The Nasscom
contest, which is open to software developers, corporates and students, will
shortlist the winning applications. These will be shown to Nasscom members, who
may or may not choose to take the applications.

Vikram Talwar,
chairman of Nasscom’s forum for business processes outsourcing companies, said
that similar tools are already available for use.

“…this contest will primarily be done within
the industry to focus on this issue of women’s safety, people will be
recognized for it, and there will be a jury that will look at it. And hopefully
we can then share these apps with other parts of the economy,”

Mr. Talwar said
at a Nasscom press conference Thursday.

Women’s safety in
India has been an issue in India for a while. I think it is a good initiative
for them to have this contest to develop new technology to help protect women. Many
companies have adopted policies to help protect woman workers.